Book Review: Mr. Smith goes to prison: What my year behind bars taught me about America’s prison crisis

Date01 June 2022
Published date01 June 2022
DOI10.1177/0734016819854798
Subject MatterBook Reviews
based on proper evidence and entered into voluntarily. Perhaps at risk of sounding unrealistically
utopian, Kelly and Pitman concede that these suggestions are dramatic and not easily achieved in
Chapter 8, even accepting that What appears to be missing is the political will to make meaningful,
comprehensive reform a priority(p. 199). At the same time, they suggest that meaningful reform is
inherently possible. Through evidence citing support of public opinion, their sample of legal actors,
and several existing organizations and public off‌icials they strive to prove their point.
While Confronting Underground Justice is focused, it would be misleading to suggest that it is
limited to plea bargaining. Readers should not expect a narrow and f‌ixated analysis, as Kelly and
Pitmans work is often equally concerned with broader system-wide reform. Transforming the way
the U.S. criminal justice system handles substance abuse, mental health, appointed counsel, and
pretrial detention are all large-scale issues requiring conversations unrestricted to plea bargaining.
What is apparent in Kelly and Pitmans view is that plea deals as a necessary evil are “…here to
stay(p. 105). For this reason, plea bargaining becomes the essential focal point for system-wide
change, explaining the authorssimultaneous focus on plea negotiation and issues of broader
reform. Despite being extensive in its approach to reform, Confronting Underground Justice is
perhaps one sided in its critique. Readers interested in a substantive discussion from the viewpoint
of plea-bargaining advocates may be left wanting. Kelly and Pitman brief‌ly reference the notion
that plea negotiation can allow for greater f‌lexibility in case dispositions and at times “…plea
deals can result in more just outcomes…” (p. 29), yet this point remains underdeveloped as the
book proceeds. For example, Chapter 4 is devoted to critics of plea bargaining, but no similarly
sized discussion of its potential benef‌its, such as circumventing overly harsh determinate
sentencing.
Even so, Confronting Underground Justice is a must-read for anyone interested in plea bargaining
or criminal justice reform. It can be used in academic settings for students and professors alike and
would even benef‌it readers interested in learning more about the inner workings of the judicial
system. Readers can expect to develop a better understanding of the way that prosecutors, defense
attorneys, and judges interact, the pressures that criminal defendants face, and even legal terminology
that may not be commonly understood. Support for reform begins from the ground up, and
Confronting Underground Justice is a great place to start.
ORCID iD
Kevin Petersen https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9212-3726
Smith, J. (2015).
Mr. Smith goes to prison: What my year behind bars taught me about Amer icas prison crisis (May 2017). New York,
NY: St. Martins Griff‌in. 288 pp. $17.99. ISBN 978-1-250-13447-9.
Reviewed by: Lindsay Smith ,George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
DOI: 10.1177/0734016819854798
In Mr. Smith Goes to Prison, Dr. Jeff Smith, who is currently a New School politics professor, covers
his political career, what sent him to a Kentucky Federal Prison, his life in prison, and the aftermath
of it all. After interviews with criminology scholars, policy makers, and offenders, he proposes new
ways to address the issue of mass incarceration. He suggests implementing programs for inmates
which not only make prison safer but incorporate their entrepreneurial drive to both help them
succeed and reduce recidivism rates. What he calls involuntary participant observationis what
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